Ethel Mayor Gwen Sims will hold a city forum “Starting Conversations about Healthy Communities,” on March 22 at Ethel City Hall from 6 to 7 p.m.
The Mayor is establishing a Mayoral Health Council to find ways of making our community a healthier place to live. A city forum has been set to hear the ideas of our citizens to direct the council.
Sims offers her full support for creating a council to improve Ethel’s status as a healthy city.
“This council will be dedicated to putting together a community wide action plan to improve the health demographics of our city, and I hope all business leaders, community groups and residents will get involved and lend their support,” she said.
Similar councils have been established throughout Mississippi, particularly in the Delta region of the state, with the assistance of the Mississippi State Department of Health Office of Preventative Health. Once formed, mayoral health councils implement plans to improve health needs specific to their city or town.
Community involvement, volunteerism and support have increased in these areas as the community is becoming more involved in activities concerning youth, and older adults are becoming more health conscious.
The focus of the Mayoral Health Council is on increasing access to recreation and to fresh and healthy foods, and decreasing tobacco exposure.
The long term goal is to dramatically and meaningfully alter conditions for and social determinants of improved health in our community.
